if your world falls apart
by everydaynerd
Summary: Percy tightens an arm around her waist & shoots a web to pull them to safety. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great to see you and all, but if you want to hang out that badly I can give you my number, you don't need to go to all the trouble of arranging an explosion." or 5 times Percy worries his best friend Annabeth will figure out he's Spider-Man (& 1 time he doesn't have to)


It starts like this:

Percy's friend Grover wins two passes for free admission to the natural science museum and research center for volunteering at some benefit or another. Grover asks Percy to come with him, someone forgets to close a tank fully, Percy gets a little too close to the spider habitat, and a second-long spider-bite later his life is changed.

(He's never even told Annabeth about the spider bite; arachnophobe that she is, he'd guessed the mere mention would give her nightmares for weeks.)

At first he's just going to use the newfound set of skills to make some extra cash, try to help his mom out a little bit more with the bills she was struggling with.

But…it feels selfish, having so much power and just using it for his own benefit. The kind of thing Sally Jackson, of all people, would not approve of.

So he starts helping out around town whenever things were amiss, just trying to do the right thing and make good win a little bit more in the world.

(The costume is a little much, but he had been a big fan of comic books in middle school, and it just seems like the thing to do when you're a vigilante—which he apparently is, so.)

At first he hadn't told Annabeth because in all honesty he didn't want her to know if it didn't work—it seemed like the kind of thing destined to fail, that his best friend would probably think was stupid, and he didn't want her to know he was the idiot behind it, so he just—kept it to himself.

But then it _did _work, and he started dealing with bigger threats and worse enemies, getting media coverage and then he didn't tell her because she would never approve—she'd likely slap him silly for the danger he's been putting himself into.

And now it's been a couple months, and he knows the longer he puts it off the more betrayed and angry Annabeth will be if and when she ever finds out, but—he just can't bring himself to tell her, doesn't know how he would even attempt to do so.

So he keeps up the charade of the second job, hides the suit underneath his mattress, drinks an excess of water so his wrists are capable of producing more web, and hopes it doesn't all blow up in his face.

/

**_1._**

Percy doesn't know it's her, at first.

He's making rounds all across town like he does every evening he doesn't have to work, the hustle of the familiar streets soothing.

(The city feels so much more his own now that he can actually _do _something when things are wrong.)

He swings into the alley when he hears the scuffle.

Through the dim he can see it's a blonde (though the hood of her jacket covers most of her hair) and three assailants—she's doing pretty damn well at holding her own, honestly, but she's outnumbered, and even what looks like a decent amount of self-defense experience can only do so much against several people so much larger than her.

So Percy slings web at the two punks closest to him, and by the time he has them webbed enough to be secured to the brick wall, the girl has managed to knock out the third, and she's panting, looking at the ground, appearing rankled but unharmed.

Percy's so full of adrenaline, it takes him a moment to process when she looks up, a wry smile directed his way.

The grey eyes he sees every day are distant in a way they haven't been in years as she takes the sight of him in.

Annabeth tugs the bag she'd dropped back over her shoulder, managing to look both mildly surprised and nonplussed. "Thanks for the assist."

'Um," he clears his throat awkwardly, leaning up against the wall and trying to act calm. "Yeah, sure, anytime. Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." (he resists the urge to facepalm.)

He's inflecting his voice so she doesn't recognize it; even so, it seems impossible that she won't realize the idiot in spandex in front of her is the idiot hanging upside down from her couch while she cooked them both breakfast this morning.

(She's his best friend, a genius, and his _roommate_—if anyone is going to figure him out, it's her.)

"Well, I guess I'll probably never see you again, but—if there's ever anything I can do to repay the favor, let me know. I'm Annabeth, by the way."

Percy reaches to shake her hand, trying not to laugh at the irony of it all. "Nice to meet you, Annabeth. I should—I should probably go."

Annabeth nods, and Percy forces himself to swing up to the roof of the next building over before he anything stupid comes out of his mouth.

(Like the fact that he's her best friend, or the fact that he's in love with her, or—generally anything else life-altering like that.)

Annabeth mentions it in passing at 2 a.m. that night, when they're sitting on their living room couch with a bowl of popcorn and a pack of blue raspberry jolly ranchers between them while _Brooklynn Nine-Nine_ blares in the background.

Percy's only been home for half an hour, citing the second job he claimed to have gotten when the spidey-senses kicked in and he started moonlighting; he can tell his best friend is a little sad he's been around less lately, but she's busy enough what with her internship and classes and trying to perfect her senior thesis, so she hasn't gotten onto him about it too much yet.

"I met him today," she says softly, scooting closer to Percy but not meeting his eyes. "Spider-Man, I mean. These guys were trying to mug me—"

"Are you okay?" Percy interrupts, wide eyed and reaching for her hand, attempting to seem as freaked out as he knows he would be if he hadn't already known she was okay.

(If he hadn't discreetly followed her all the way back to their apartment and listened to make sure the door locked behind her.)

"I'm fine, Perce," Annabeth assures him; she moves the snacks onto the shabby coffee table and uses the space to lean her head onto Percy's shoulder. "They didn't get anything, and it didn't look like they'll be bothering anyone else anytime soon. Anyway, he seemed cool. It's nice, knowing people do things like that for strangers. Makes you believe in humanity a little bit."

Percy is quiet for a moment; his hands start playing with her hair instinctively, and Annabeth hums contently, her eyes drifting shut.

"Why didn't you call me?" he asks, voice quiet.

"Because I knew you'd get all overprotective and worried, exactly like you're doing now," Annabeth mumbles, sounding smug all the while. "And there was nothing you could do to help, it was already dealt with, so you'd just be anxious for the rest of your shift for nothing."

He sighs, but nods with resignation, because—she's not wrong. "Yeah, probably, wise girl. Still—if you ever need me, you know you can call no matter where I am, right?"

"I know, seaweed brain," she promises; she's half-asleep, now, so the words push together. "You'll always be the first one I turn to when I need help."

It sticks with him when he's carrying her to her bed half an hour later, the constant worry lines in her face smoothed by sleep.

/

**_2_**.

Percy's been more careful when leaving their apartment, lately; the press have started offering big rewards for any action shots of Spider-Man, and there are fan accounts popping up trying to use the sites where photos are captured to determine areas the _"real life super hero"_ frequents and therefore might live, so he's been going to extreme lengths to throw them off the trail.

(He'd thought about setting up some shots and submitting them as himself to make a little extra money for his mom and Annabeth's Christmas presents, but the little voice in his head that sounds like Annabeth chastised him—any recognizable connection to his alter ego could lead them to be linked.)

(_Don't be such a seaweed brain_, he hears her saying, the way she has a thousand times before.)

So he's making an unnecessary detour when he sees it—an explosion in a coffee shop that's causing an entire five story building to collapse.

(The smell of gas in the air is strong, and he knows he only has so long to help before the place combusts.)

He's there in a heartbeat, trying to reinforce the structure and spirit away anyone he comes across.

He thinks he's gotten everyone out when a faraway voice hisses _"shit!"_ and his heart drops out from his body when he circles around to see Annabeth on the fourth floor fire escape that's starting to creak as the building becomes even more unstable.

She's taking a deep breath, and it takes him a moment to realize she's getting ready to attempt to jump down to keep from being toppled along with the building; it's all he can do to cry out before she gets up the nerve.

"No—Annabeth, stop!"

Her head snaps to him, and she forces a pleasant expression. "Spider-Man—hi. I know I already owe you one, but—I could use the help."

Percy's terrified out of his mind at the sight of the most important person in his world in such imminent danger.

(but her eyes are full of fear like he's never seen, and he forces himself to pull it together; Annabeth is all that matters here.)

So as he tightens an arm around Annabeth's waist and shoots a web to pull them to safety, he does what he's always done anytime she or his mom has been scared or upset.

(he cracks jokes.)

"Listen, Annabeth, I know I said I'm happy to help anytime, but I really didn't actually want this to be a regular thing. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great to see you and all, but if you want to hang out that badly I can give you my number, you don't need to go to all the trouble of arranging an explosion."

Annabeth sputters in disbelief. "I—what? Are you serious?"

Percy has to distract himself; she's making the most ridiculous face, covered in sweat and grime and her hair is a disaster, and yet the way she looks in the sun is just—beautiful.

(He's known he's in love with his best friend for ages, but sometimes it just—overwhelms him.)

"What, you think because I'm a vigilante I don't have a cell phone? I'll have you know I am up with the times, thank you very much! Anyway, back to my point—no more putting yourself in mortal danger just to see me, okay?"

Annabeth laughs; it's a little bit breathless, and they're close enough that he can feel how elevated her heart rate still is, but she's starting to seem less scared and shaken, so he's calling it a success.

"Excuse me, mister, but just because all of New York seems to be in love with you doesn't mean I had any desire to see you again. And besides—if I had designed that explosion, it would've been a lot more immediately impactful—I'm an architect, I know which parts of a building are the ones that keep it standing."

"Damn, Beth, who knew you were an evil mastermind in a former life."

She scrunches up her nose in distaste at the nickname just in time for him to set her down on a sidewalk far enough away from the building in question for his paranoid heart to calm.

"I—really, though, thank you again," Annabeth says with a rueful smile. "If anything happened to me I think my best friend would have a coronary."

"He the mother hen type?" Percy asks lightly, feeling his own heart rate spike.

"Oh, absolutely. This is going to send him overboard." Her tone is so fond, even though Percy can see her hands still trembling.

"Good. You seem like you _need_ someone keeping an eye on you. Do me a favor and eat something soon, okay? After something like this you really need some sugar in you."  
Annabeth snorts. "Yeah, now you sound like Percy."

He straightens, eyes wide—not that she can tell. "Well maybe the guy's right sometimes."

"He usually is," she admits softy. "Anyway, go ahead, get out of here. I know there are other damsels and bachelors in distress for you to save.

_You're the only one that matters_, he can't stop himself from thinking.

But he does just that, heading back towards the scene of the crime and bracing himself to be back in the fray.

He's just outside where the emergency services have all set up a border when his phone buzzes; he stops atop the gas station to answer.

"Perce?" Annabeth's voice is shaky.

"Annabeth? Is something wrong?"

"No—not really. Something…there was an explosion, in the building where my meeting was. I'm fine, I promise, but—if you can come…"

"Of course. Always," he says without hesitating, turning away from the scene before him. "Where are you?"

She rattles off the intersection near her location, and he promises to be there in ten minutes, and then he's heading to where his change of clothes and motorcycle are stashed at top speed.

When he pulls up to the curb she's seated on, she looks up with a watery smile of relief. "You came."

"I'll always come for you," he tells her, pulling her into his arms without hesitating.

She takes a deep breath, squeezing him so tightly it almost hurts, not that he would ever say so.

After a moment of holding her close, rubbing circles on her back, he pulls away just enough to see her face. "What do you need, right now?"

"Food," she admits reluctantly. "But—I don't want to see anyone. Take out, or anything else we can eat on the couch. I just—want to hide from the world for a little bit."

(Something in Percy's chest preens at knowing she doesn't include him with the rest of the world; at knowing she sent the guy that for all she knows is a superhero away, but wanted _Percy _to be with her.)

It's a vulnerable side of Annabeth he doesn't often get to see; she's so focused on being strong she never wants to show weakness, so for her to let him in on this most tender moment…it means something.

They order a pizza, and Percy wraps her in so many blankets she's laughing and calling herself a five-layer burrito, and even though things could've gone so, so badly it becomes one of his favorite memories, watching a rom-com because the predictability is comfortable and cheesy but happy and that's what Annabeth needs today.

She hugs him again before she goes to bed, a whispered _"thank you" _and a refill of the hot chocolate in front of him before she goes to her room, and then another hour of her sending him memes on Instagram before she actually falls asleep.

(It's the most quintessential Percy & Annabeth thing, and this day that started one of the worst becomes one of the best.)

/

**_3._**

Of all the places to rob, Percy's not sure why these guys chose an ice cream shop, because there are plenty of businesses around that sell much more valuable merchandise and are likely to have much more lucrative cash registers.

Then again, less expensive means less security measures in place in this case, and they probably would have gotten away with it if Percy hadn't spotted them on his way to the grocery store.

He's dealing with the main antagonist, the one with the gun pointed at the employee who'd been issuing threats to all the hostages when Percy had entered.

So he hadn't noticed that the guy had a partner; the hair on Percy's neck stands up at the sensation of someone behind him, but before he can turn around to defend himself there's a loud _thunk_.

And then he's looking at Annabeth, of all people, standing over the thief in question, holding a chair that she'd evidently used to bowl him over and send the pistol that had been pointed at the small of Percy's back clattering to the floor.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Annabeth pants. The perp on the ground starts to move and she hits him with the chair once more for good measure before putting it down.

Percy just blinks at her for a second. "How do you _do _this? I'm almost impressed you've managed to get into trouble this much in such a short period of time."

"It's not my fault!" she argues, arms waving wildly. She doesn't look scared, this time; her eyes narrowed, all the genius and strategy he knows she possesses behind them.

"I don't know, but I…seriously, Annabeth, I thought we talked about this. No more putting yourself in danger to see me! Wouldn't a bat signal or something be easier?"

She snorts, crossing her arms. "Listen, hotshot, I'm not going near anything with an arachnid on it, if you think I'm going to put together an entire spider spotlight you're kidding yourself."

"See, you _say _you wouldn't go near anything spider-like but you've already been in my arms and there were no complaints _then_," Percy says triumphantly. "It's okay to have a crush on me, Annabeth, I'm kind of a big deal."

"You didn't tell us you know _Spider-Man_!" a young voice pipes up.

Percy's gaze expands beyond Annabeth enough to realize her two younger brothers are with her; he's met them plenty of times, as they're at his and Annabeth's apartment pretty frequently, and it takes a moment for him to remember he's wearing a mask and stop himself from calling out their names.

Annabeth sighs, brushing off the comment. "I don't really know him, we've just—met a few times."

Bobby's ten year old eyes are wide. "Spider-Man knows your _name_."

"We're friends," Percy smirks beneath his mask. "I save her pretty regularly. She's always doing dangerous things."

"I took my little brothers out for _ice cream_, in the middle of the day, how does it get any safer than that? And anyway, I returned the favor today, so we're nearly even," Annabeth retorts with an eye roll.

"Fair enough—thanks for that, by the way. But I suppose if I give it a week you'll manage to end up in a pickle again."

"I am _not _that bad. I'm sure your life is at risk on a daily basis, is it not?"

"Touché," Percy relents.

Sirens begin wailing in the distance, and he stretches before taking a step towards the door. "That's my cue."

"Go on, then," Annabeth smiles. "Take care of yourself, yeah? You're no good to anyone if you fall apart."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am," Percy salutes teasingly.

He heads out the door, but before it closes he hears Matthew hiss, " You were _flirting _with Spider-Man!"

_Is that what this is? _

Percy hasn't thought about it much, so used to banter with Annabeth, so happy to have any amount of her attention.

But…maybe she _is _into this version of him; he's been waiting years for her to notice him, but maybe being Spider-Man is the answer to all of that.

/

**_4._**

The next time, it's a runaway train, of course; so many insane and awful things have happened since Percy started wearing the red and blue suit that sometimes he wonders whether doing so seemed like a dare that urged the universe to cause even more distress.

He manages to stop it in time, somehow, all of his muscles shaking with the effort involved in doing so. At one point his mask comes off, but everyone in the front train car—the ones who watched death speeding toward them and this young man throwing himself in its way to save them—swears they'll protect the secret.

(There's something special in a city like this—the way people understand each other, the respect for someone who protects their own.)

It's the kind of thing he wishes he could tell his mom about—she would cry with happiness, knowing the kind of good in those people, knowing the way people like her band together.

(But telling her that would mean telling her he threw himself in front of a train, that he's regularly in front of guns and proficient villains, and that is knowledge she does _not_ need.)

After, he stands in the shadows, a compulsive need to watch everyone who was on board disembark and make their way to safety.

(He doesn't believe he's truly managed to do it, sometimes.)

There were so many people on board, his eyes are darting all over.

So it's not until Annabeth is approaching him that he sees her; he jolts upright, and she smirks, clearly pleased at having managed to surprise him.

"It's been _three _weeks since the last time I got into trouble, for the record," she teases.

"I'm so proud," Percy volleys back, voice raspy. She must not have been in a front car, because if she had seen his face—there's no way she would be this nonchalant. _Right?_

She studies his stance for a moment. "You look like you need a break before you get back to saving the day. Want to go for a walk, or something?"

It's a measure of how astute she is that she can see how drained he is, just from the way he's standing.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

(_Is this a date? _he wonders absentmindedly.)

"How've you been?" Annabeth asks after they've been strolling quietly for a few minutes.

"Alright. Busy, and a little tired, but—that's life. You?"

"Good, mostly," she says with a shrug.

"Mostly? What's wrong?"

She hesitates, biting her lip. "Nothing with me. I'm just…worried about my best friend."

Percy tries not to react. "The mama bear guy you mentioned before?"

"Technically, the male equivalent of mama bear is papa wolf, for the record. But—yeah. His name is Percy. He…he just hasn't seemed like himself, lately—for the last few months, really. He's not sleeping or eating enough, and he just seems…I don't know. It's just…he's always the one who takes care of me when I'm pushing myself too hard, or forgetting to eat and bathe, and it just—I don't know how to do the same for him, be what he needs."

Percy swallows thickly, because he knows he's been distant since he became Spider-Man, knows he's been a bit of a wreck lately, a bit too stretched thin.

And he's noticed her habits changing—she's been doing his laundry when he forgets, trying to cook more (largely unsuccessfully) or bring home food, constantly making him go to bed mid _Vampire Diaries. _

It's all the things he does for her when she's busy and not taking care of herself, she's trying to figure out which of them he needs.

And she has this worried look in her eyes, the concern written in every line of her face and it just—_god_. Percy feels guilty for stressing her out; and of course she hasn't brought it up to him, because she's never been one to share her burdens, and _especially _avoids ever making him think he's at fault. His love for her just—grows, exponentially.

"I'm sure just knowing he has you helps," Percy says gently, squeezing Annabeth's shoulder. "The biggest thing you can do is _be _there for him, and you are."

"Thanks. I hope so," she mutters quietly, staring off into the distance.

(Later that night, she has a gentle intervention with Percy; tells him she's worried about him, begs him to take better care of himself.)

(They both cry.)

(He agrees, pulls her into a tight hug, and then they fold onto the couch to make progress in their show like normal; Percy falls asleep with his head in Annabeth's lap, her fingers stroking along his scalp.)

/

**_5._**

Percy had never thought to worry about Annabeth getting in a car accident, because she doesn't own a car.

Naturally, she manages to end up in a pile up during a ten minute taxi ride home after a late movie showing with friends.

She's out of the car by the time Spider-Man arrives on the scene, giving him a sardonic smirk while he scurries around attempting to get everyone in precarious positions safe.

He doesn't bother chastising her when he finishes dealing with the ordeal, just reaches out a hand to where she sits on a curb waiting.

(For him.)

"Come on, I want to show you something."

He gets them to the roof of the highest building for five blocks; it's one of his favorite views in the city.

"Everything feels so small up here," Annabeth whispers.

(She's looking out at the people, the skyline; he's looking at her.)

He lets his guard down in these moments, and he knows he needs to be more vigilant or she's going to figure him out.

But inches away from her, so far from the rest of the world…it's hard to think of anything else.

"Do you—" she turns to him and quiets, their faces close enough he'd feel her breath if it weren't for the mask.

He could lift it enough to kiss her, maybe—not enough for her to recognize him, but enough to _finally_ know what her mouth feels like on his.

Percy gathers all the courage he can muster up, reaches out a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Annabeth, would you—would you want to go out some time?"

His fingers still on her cheek, and Annabeth's eyes widen, as she presses a hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Oh—I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to lead you on at all. And you're wonderful, any girl would be lucky to have you. I just…I'm in love with someone else," she admits, biting her lip.

Percy feels the words like a sucker punch, has to stop himself from physically bowing over at the unexpected hurt.

(He'd braced himself for her to say no, but never for her to already love someone else.)

"I didn't realize you were seeing anyone, sorry, I just—"

"I'm not," she says, shaking her head. "I haven't dated anyone since…a couple years ago, but Piper and I decided would be better as friends. I think she's seeing my friend Thalia now, actually. Anyway, I'm not dating anyone, but…I love him." Annabeth sighs wistfully. "So much. It would be unfair for me to even attempt to date anyone else—I don't have my whole heart to give."

Percy's so blindsided he's quiet for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the new information; even in the greatest version of himself, the girl with the princess curls he's always thought was the one is emotionally unavailable.

"Well, he's a lucky guy, whoever he is," Percy says gruffly, attempting to be diplomatic. "I hope everything works out for the two of you.

"Me too," Annabeth admits quietly, staring off into the night.

(Percy's left to wonder who she could love that's stupid enough to not have already done whatever it takes to stay in her life forever.)

/

/

**_+1._**

It's one of the worst incidents Percy has ever attempted to help with—a fire that consumes an entire apartment building.

There's one fatality already when he arrives; he manages to prevent any further deaths, but there are _so many people _with injuries, and the families trying to find their way to each other is a disaster.

And Percy is in and out of the burning building for roughly an hour; he sustains several pretty bad burns, dislocates a shoulder near the end when a beam falls on him, just—it's the worst time he's had as Spider-Man yet.

By the time he's done, he's stumbling outside. The cops are there, and they look like they want to take him into custody, but then the buildings resident form a human barrier to prevent them getting near him.

(It's one of the greatest things anyone has ever done for him; maybe it's the exhaustion, or the traumatic nature of the night, but Percy finds himself silently crying at the display.)

He's trudging away from them all, feeling so shitty, but it's worth it; the thank yous, the applause, all of it is just evidence that everyone is okay, and that means it's all worth it.

When he spots Annabeth standing off to the side, yards away and hidden in shadows, he thinks she might be a hallucination, for a moment.

(It's been over a month since their faux-date; the longest she's gone without her life being at risk since she's met Spider-Man, actually.)

But she must not be an illusion, because she waves him over impatiently, tugging him onto a deserted side street.

"Sit down."

"Bossy much? What are you even doing here, Annabeth—you weren't in the building, I would've seen you. Did something happen?"

"What happened is you're too busy taking care of everyone else to take care of yourself, so someone else has to," she huffs, but her expression is affectionate.

Annabeth tugs open her backpack, pulling out an oxygen pump, complete with a mask and all.

"Put this on—come on, the longer you wait, the worse off you'll be."  
Percy stares at her. "When did you even get an oxygen mask?"

"About forty-five minutes ago when I heard Spider-Man was spotted at one of the biggest fires in New York City history and figured you wouldn't think to make sure _you _didn't inhale smoke, selfless idiot that you are." She raises an eyebrow, like _I dare you to correct me if I'm wrong._

He reaches for the mask, but doesn't move it towards his face, commenting, "I really think this is unnecessary—"

"Perseus Jackson so help me god if you do not _put on _the oxygen mask right now I am going to throw away every single item of blue food in our apartment." The scolding face she's making is _so_ familiar, as is the threat, so he complies without thinking. Fighting with Annabeth when she's this sure about something is _never _a good idea.

"Yes ma'am," he mutters before pulling his mask up enough to put the oxygen mask to his face.

He's been taking deep breaths for almost a minute when it hits him, and he jerks up right, looking to where Annabeth sits with a raised eyebrow and the half-smirk that means she's holding back a laugh.

"You know?" he demands.

"Yeah, Perce. Honestly, I'm mad at myself for not figuring it out sooner; it's obvious in hindsight. Wait, here—" she reaches to pull the red mask all the way off his head, a soft smile lighting up her face when all of his is visible. "That's better."

"How did you—"

"You breathe, I'll talk." She begins stroking his hair gently as she explains. "You came home with that cut on your shoulder last month, minutes after I saw a tweet that a witness saw someone slice Spider-Man's right arm. It was suspicious—you've been suspicious for ages, really. And then I stopped by to have lunch with your mom one day, and you had never told her about your second job—which, you tell your mom everything, so I knew something was off.

"And then a week later, you saved those kids from a kidnapper, and when I read the way Spider-Man defended them, the words he'd spoken to them…it was _you_. The most you thing I'd ever heard."

"Why didn't you tell me you'd figured it out?" Percy asks, voice muffled by the rubber.

"I've been trying to figure out how," Annabeth admits, fidgeting and playing with her necklace the way she only does when she's nervous. "And then there was a stage when I felt hurt—because you hadn't told me, and I figured that meant you didn't want me to know. And—even then, I felt like I'd spent so much time with Spider-Man, and thinking you'd been hiding it from me all that time, too, replacing him with you in all those memories…I assumed the worst."

"No, it wasn't that, I just—"

"I know, Percy. I got there eventually. You're my best friend, I know how you think. I'm not mad you didn't tell me. I _am _mad that you've been reckless with your life, you idiot," she tells him with a scowl, clutching his hand tightly. "Do you know how badly I would handle it if anything happened to you? I can't do this without you, Percy."

"I'm sorry," he whispers, pulling the oxygen away from his face. "I'll be more careful, I promise."

"Yes you will, because now I'm keeping an eye on you," Annabeth teases. She watches him carefully, rubs at a spot of ash on the shoulder of his suit.

They're quiet for a moment, the sounds of the city around them, but sounding so far away.

"Percy?" Annabeth says.

Before Percy can fully meet her eyes, she's leaning toward him, and it's all he can do to not keel over in shock when she presses her lips to his.

He responds instantly, and his brain doesn't fully process it all until Annabeth pulls away, looking at him with a sparkle in her eye like he's never seen.

"I thought—" he stumbles over the words. "I thought you were in love with someone else."

Annabeth lets out a carefree laugh, interlocking the fingers of both her hands with both of his. "You absolute seaweed brain," she chides, leaning her forehead against his. "Before I figured it out, I told _Spider-Man_ that I was in love with someone else. Because I'm in love with Percy Jackson."

Percy gapes like a fish, trying to juxtapose the memory with what she's saying now, trying to put together everything he knows about Annabeth, everything he knows about whether or not he could ever stand a chance with her.

"How—I—wow." he says breathlessly, and Annabeth makes a face and presses the oxygen mask back to his mouth. "Me too," he mumbles. "That I love you, I mean."

Annabeth laughs again—_he loves that sound_. "Good. I was hoping so."

/

It ends like this:

Annabeth becomes the other half of the Spider-Man team; she does recon when necessary, gives her husband (they eloped a week after declaring their love, because why the hell not—they won't stop loving each other any time soon) real-time information on what he's dealing with, makes excuses when he is late to/leaves early from/disappears from obligations; he's a much better Spider-Man with her on board as the brains of the operation.

There are a lot of rooftop dates, most of which are of buildings that are technically prohibited, but Percy figures rules are more like guidelines anyway, and Annabeth is down for anything as long as they don't get caught.

She gets her job as an actual architect (she busts her ass to get up the ladder and she _does_), and Percy works at an aquarium (where he grows close with one of his coworkers son, a funny kid around seventeen named Miles), and they moonlight vigilante, and it's—_everything_.

Percy obtains two serious, nearly fatal, injuries; on both occasions he and Annabeth have a conversation about whether or not he should keep doing this, and whether he needs to keep taking the risk.

(On both occasions it's decided the public deserves for them to continue doing this work.)

The third time they have a conversation about whether or not he should keep being Spider-Man, they decide to retire the suit.

(This time, the conversation was sparked by Annabeth coming home with a Spider-Man merch store bag in hand, which Percy opens to find a teeny-tiny red and blue onesie and a sonogram.)

They're trying to decide how to tell the public Spider-Man will be no more when Miles (now nineteen) comes over looking nervous one afternoon—which isn't atypical, because he and Percy have a close big-brother type relationship, but then he's sitting on the couch blurting _"I know you're him can I please help" _only to reveal that he was recently bitten by the same kind of spider that started this whole thing, and it ends up being that Percy will teach Miles everything he knows, and then Miles will take over the role.

(Percy cries when Miles wears a suit tailored to his size for the first time, and Annabeth rolls her eyes fondly because their kid won't be born for three more months and yet her husband is already _such _a dad.)

They've never told Sally, but one day Percy and Annabeth are on her couch watching the news with her while she rocks her grandson in her arms, and when the Spider-Man segment comes on, Percy's mother says, _"Miles is doing a wonderful job stepping into the role,"_ and he and Annabeth are nodding in agreement before turning to her with wide eyes.

(_"I'm your mother, Percy, we notice these things. You'll know when little Charlie gets older."_)

And eventually they end up in Long Island, because they love the city but they're tired, now, and they want Charlie and his little brother Luke to have space to run and be free and learn about how the world is full of endless possibilities.

At bedtime, they tell stories of a boy who became part spider, and the boys giggle because Mama hates spiders but Dad promises Mama made an exception for this one.

(They speak of fires and trains and robberies, and the love and hope and will to do what's right that made it all possible, and their sons grow up knowing that protecting the people around them can move a community to become a human shield, and that taking care of the people close to you is at the heart of it all.)

(That having people you love means you'll always be okay even if things _do _go wrong.)


End file.
